Wrestling: VC's Ruggirello is tested in first two state matches

ALBANY — The state all-time wins leader walked off the mat with two plugs in his nose.

BY Sal Interdonato

ALBANY — The state all-time wins leader walked off the mat with two plugs in his nose.

Cody Ruggirello, a Valley Central senior 135-pounder, didn't coast into the semifinals at the Times-Union Center. Ruggirello usually finishes his matches with first or second-period pins.

But both of Ruggirello's wins lasted into the third period. Ruggirello opened with a 15-0 win by technical fall over Matt Gray of Indian River in 5:44. He defeated Kevin Panebianco in a quarterfinal.

"They were both tough matches," said Ruggirello, who is 54-1 this season and 273-19 in his career. "They will get me ready for tomorrow. I need practice going into the third period."

Shenendehowa's John Belanger (44-1) stands in the way of Ruggirello's third state final. Ruggirello defeated Belanger 3-2 in an Eastern States Classic semifinal last month.

Minisink Valley's Ryan Nicholas and Kingston's Nick Matthews have become good friends in the last few weeks.

The seniors pushed each other at Section 9 team practice. And now, they were face-to-face with a berth in the state 171-pound semifinals on the line.

Nicholas scored his third win of the season over Matthews, 10-9 on a reversal with nine seconds left. The wild match was filled with counters and reversals.

"He's a tough kid," said Nicholas (39-8), who defeated Matthews 7-3 in the section semifinal. "He hit his good stuff. I hit my good stuff."

Nicholas will face top-seeded Billy Coggins of Rocky Point in a semifinal. He's looking to become the first Minisink Valley wrestler to advance to the state final since 1991.

Taylor Laraia grimaced in pain as his left knee hit the mat 30 seconds into his opening-round match against Wesley Blanding of Chittenango.

Laraia has a high threshold for pain. He never complains about injuries. So Newburgh Free Academy coaches were seriously concerned. This couldn't be the end for Laraia, could it?

Laraia hobbled to his feet a few minutes later and didn't miss a beat. He shut down Blanding 5-0 and blanked Jason Chudzinski of Colonie 5-0 to advance to his second state semifinals.

"No matter what condition I was in, I was going to wrestle," Laraia said. "I don't like to take injury time. Maybe if I get poked in the eye, I might. It was very painful and I just needed a little break."

Up next for Laraia is Casey Lanave of Chenango Forks (20-3), a three-time state place-winner.

Section 9 Division II wrestlers were 2-15 in the round of 16 and quarterfinals. Highland seniors Peter Behnke (215) and Vinny Barber (285) each won their opening-round match.

sinterdonato@th-record.com

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